


Retcon Heir

by Latia, light_rises, telluricThanatologist, Threeley



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Body horror (transformation), F/M, Gen, Homestuck Shipping World Cup, Illustrated, Mentions of Violence, bodily fluids/functions (blood), death (canon character death), graphic depictions of violence/gore (puncturing the skin), sexual content (implied), suicide (canon suicide mission)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 04:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latia/pseuds/Latia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/light_rises/pseuds/light_rises, https://archiveofourown.org/users/telluricThanatologist/pseuds/telluricThanatologist, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threeley/pseuds/Threeley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are few things worse than a loved one gone missing. At least one of those is not knowing if there was anyone to miss in the first place.</p><p>This is a tale of tales. Of gods, memories, mythtellers, a Muse, an Author, and the friend She seeks in the world She helped knit into Being.</p><p>(Collab Entry for Team John<3Rose for the Homestuck World Shipping Cup 2013!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

 

_"By breath, by light_

_by space, by time_

_I weave these words,_

_I spin my rhyme._

__

_For life, for hope_

_for void, for heart_

_I lend my voice_

_I craft my art._

__

_Beloved Muse,_

_please grant me speech,_

_I ask for ears_

_my voice to reach._

__

_The tale I tell_

_now yours to share._

_The words I hold_

_now yours to bear._

__

_Receive,_

_reflect,_

_remember._

_\- modern existential philosopher Vin Diesel_


	2. Chapter 2

John Egbert has gone missing. 

  


Of all the different locales the Veil has to offer, you find the Land of Crypts and Helium the one calling you the most when you want to think. You have your biases for LOLAR, of course, but sometimes the candy-coated brightness and unabashed saturation of it all is simply too distracting. Here, the familiar sound of rain trickling paired with the delicately flowering landscape is peaceful...nostalgic even. It almost reminds you of...

Well.

Unfortunately, the quiet serenity of the recently-revived world is not enough to stop the wheel in your head that refuses to cease its anxious spinning. Not even the brilliant fuchsias and golds and crimsons standing stubbornly loud against the endless gray sky, just one more little reminder that the Game is over (you are safe) (you have _won_ )-- it just can’t make you smile like you used to.

Your headband pings.

GG: hey

GG: find anything?

TT: I’m afraid not.

GG: SIGN 8^Y?

TT: Very SIGN 8^Y.

GG: heh

GG: where are you?

TT: Right where you dropped me off.

You barely finish hitting send before you feel the hair on your arms stand up. The smell of uranium swells around you, and suddenly Jade and Dave stand among the blooms just below the balloon on which you sit.

You rise from your balloon and float down to meet them. Jade is carrying an armful of littlefied planets. Dave is clutching his iPhone, his posture a painstakingly contrived approximation of relaxed, but his knuckles are bone-white where his fingers are wrapped around the phone. You glance at his screen and see only a wall of red text. Your stomach knots.

JADE: weve tried every land

JADE: right down to asking all the denizens, and...

JADE: well... TRYING to talk to the consorts

Her voice is unsteady and her eyes are shining, but she hurriedly blinks it away. 

JADE: dave and karkat and terezi and the mayor searched the old laboratory too

JADE: kanaya and miss mail lady and i investigated whats left of prospit and then kanaya joined the trolls to look at the rest of the meteor just in case

JADE: then miss mail lady joined the mayor to look around the rest of the asteroids in the veil

JADE: dirk and roxy are searching whats left of derse, jane and jake are on skaia, and...

JADE: and eventually we even asked aradia and sollux if theyd seen john! and they said they hadnt

JADE: but they were very nice and offered to ask the ghosts if they know anything

JADE: well

JADE: aradia was nice anyway

JADE: but we havent heard anything from them since then

JADE: and the STUPID JERK isnt even answering any of our messages, either!!

JADE: rose, im so sorry, i dont...

She takes a shaky breath. 

JADE: i dont know what else to try

Your mouth opens, but it's hard to form words at the moment. As if from a distance, it comes to you that you should probably say something reassuring. 

ROSE: You're doing everything you can.

ROSE: I'm...

Fuck, what do people even say in these situations?

ROSE: I'm sure it's through no fault of your own that you haven't yet succeeded in finding him.

JADE: BUT I SHOULD HAVE!!!

She snaps the words at you, her ears flaring and canines flashing. Then she pauses, and her ears flag and wilt. 

JADE: sorry :(

JADE: i know

JADE: i just feel a little more responsible because johns MY dumb baby bro and everything???

JADE: i spent all that time on the ship kind of making sure he wasnt getting into trouble, pluuuuus im the witch of space and such

JADE: so...

JADE: between those things i just feel as if this shouldnt be so hard ._.

ROSE: It's not a matter of shoulds or shouldn'ts.

In your mind's eye, you flip through prior conversations with John, like riffling so many pages - did he recently mention a certain place? Did his behavior seem strange? Did he seem to believe he was in danger? No. No, he seemed normal. He _seemed_ fine. You realize you need to remind yourself to breathe.

Jade looks down, and nods. 

JADE: yeah

JADE: maybe hes just being a lazy asshole and taking another big long nap in some weird place >_>

Dave glances at Jade sideways, then awkwardly puts his free hand on her arm. She snorts, and you think you see her begin to smile. Suddenly, she snaps to attention, her ears pricked and swiveling. She spins around and looks up at the sky.

At that moment, Dave's phone comes alive with the sounds of "Bad Romance". He glances down. The low staccato drumming of Terezi's long, narrow wings begins to fill the air.

DAVE: karkat and everyone are here

DAVE: pop the champagne and roll out the red carpet

Kanaya is the first to light on the ground, folding her large pale green wings behind her and smoothing her shimmering black skirt. Terezi stills her own light blue wings and hits the ground just behind Kanaya with her own little _pap_ , stirring up a small maelstrom of petals.

KANAYA: Hello Again

JADE: hi kanaya and terezi!

Jade quickly captchalogues the planets, runs over, and throws her arms around Kanaya's shoulders. Dave ambles over and extends a fist to Terezi.

DAVE: hey tz

DAVE: hows it hangin

DAVE: still morally dubious and borderline psychotic

TEREZI: YOU KNOW 1T

DAVE: wouldnt have it any other way

TEREZI: W3 ONLY JUST S4W 34CH OTH3R TWO HOURS 4GO >:P

DAVE: hey now thats actually two hours fourteen minutes and twelve seconds on the dot

DAVE: if times money thats mad staxx thatd make scrooge mcduck say fuck it and pack up his swim gear

DAVE: which he apparently still needs despite in fact being a goddamn duck

DAVE: idk i never actually read those comics

TEREZI: WH4TS 4 DUCK

DAVE: ill tell you when youre older

DAVE: more importantly havent you kept me hanging long enough

TEREZI: WHOOPS

TEREZI: MY B4D

Terezi merrily accepts the fist bunp and follows it up with a bro-splosion, as per their standard protocol. Once the bro-splosion has subsided, your fellow Seer cranes her neck and addresses the group.

TEREZI: 4H3M!

TEREZI: TH3 INV3ST1G4T1ONS R3SULTS H4V3 PROV3N 1NCONCLUS1V3 4S Y3T

She sets her thin black lips into a firm line and crosses her bony arms, in her best impression of a serious demeanor.

TEREZI: MOR3OV3R

TEREZI: 1N SP1T3 OF TH31R R3S1D3NT L3G1SL4C3R4TORS 3XC3PT1ON4L COMP3T3NC3 4ND 1NT3LL3CT 4S SH4RP 4S 4 S3T4 S3V3R4NC3 PR1SM

TEREZI: TH3 1NV3ST1G4T1ON H4S RUN 1NTO S3V3R4L ST4LLS ON 4CCOUNT OF SOM3 W31RD DUMB4SS WHO SH4LL R3M41N 4NONYMOUS 1NS1ST1NG UPON W34R1NG H1S R1D1CULOUS B1G SHOT C4P3 WH1L3 H3S FLY1NG >X|

KARKAT: MY KNIGHT CAPE IS INCREDIBLE AND SPEAKS OF MY UNERRINGLY CHARISMATIC AND PERSPICACIOUS CONDUCT IN ALL CONCEIVABLE SITUATIONS.

KARKAT: AND I CAN FLY WITH IT JUST FINE, THANK YOU NOT AT ALL KINDLY!

The hoarse shout from above promptly gives away to a brief stream of unintelligible growling and cursing. Terezi and Jade snicker. Kanaya steps lightly out of the way as Karkat makes an ungraceful landing alongside her, the end of his cape yanked over his shoulder and balled in one fist to make way for his beetle-like speckled amber wings.

KARKAT: ANYWAY

TEREZI: (h3h3h3h3h3h3)

JADE: (hehehehehehe)

KARKAT: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP, I’M TRYING TO DELIVER IMPORTANT INTEL HERE.

TEREZI: PFF

TEREZI: F1N3

JADE: sorry XP

JADE: woof

KARKAT: AS I WAS SAYING

KARKAT: THERE’S NO NEWS YET FROM ANYONE ON OUR END EITHER.

KARKAT: AT LEAST NOT ANYTHING THAT SUGGESTS THEY MIGHT HAVE FOUND ANY SIGN OF JOHN.

KARKAT: OR WHATEVER MORONIC SITUATION HE'S OBVIOUSLY GOTTEN HIMSELF INTO.

KARKAT: ANYBODY WITH EVEN THE FEEBLEST EXCUSE FOR AN ACQUAINTANCE WITH HIM KNOWS IT SURE AS HELL WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME.

KANAYA: Well

KANAYA: In Any Case Jane Has Just Informed Me That She And Jake Have Arranged To Meet With Dirk And Roxy

KANAYA: They Likewise Intend To Rendezvous With Us Here

KANAYA: Presumably To Discuss Our Further Options In Our Quest

KANAYA: Or So I Gather

KARKAT: FURTHER OPTIONS?

KARKAT: WAIT.

Karkat turns to face the rainbow drinker.

KARKAT: LIKE WHAT?

Kanaya sighs faintly and points upward.

KANAYA: Like That Further Option

Karkat's face scrunches in confusion, but he cranes his neck skyward in unison with the others. You, too, peer up through the clouds unraveling themselves across the dull black sky-

You inhale sharply. You can't believe you didn't think of it before.

KARKAT: ...OH.

His voice is barely loud enough even to register over the showers from the helium balloons.

KARKAT: FUCK. I FORGOT.

KANAYA: I Noticed

Afterus glints ice-blue in the distant darkness high above your upturned faces. You've only seen it once, fleetingly, shortly after you won the game. It was strange and nostalgic to be there, so similar to Earth, but with broiling hot and startlingly brief days, stronger gravity, and the same eerie pearl-white creatures familiar to both the trolls and Jake. You would have stayed longer to explore, had it not been for a traumatic experience on Dave’s part, as a consequence of certain members of the new species attempting to wrest his cape from him to keep as a holy relic.

JADE: jeez even i forgot about afterus :O

JADE: i guess... because none of us really ever go there?

JADE: do we

DAVE: uh no offense mary k but you mightve mentioned it when we were already dicking around literally everywhere else in the veil

Kanaya flushes.

KANAYA: To Be Quite Honest I Only Just Thought Of It Myself

KANAYA: I Might Likewise Attribute My Lapse In Memory To The Infrequent Nature Of Our Visits There

You try to clear your mind and think. Afterus. Would John really have ventured to Afterus? If so - why? If anything, he would be the one among all of you who is least interested in the notion of being regarded as a god, as factually correct as such a designation technically is in all of your cases. What purpose could going there possibly serve? Curiosity? Boredom? Something only he knows is there?

Kanaya is looking at you curiously. You resist the urge to blush, yourself - but there's no sense in keeping your questions private. Not now.

ROSE: Has anyone here talked to John within...

ROSE: The past week, let us say?

DAVE: uh

DAVE: p sure i talked to him like two days ago?

ROSE: Do you remember him saying anything at all about Afterus? Or anything that could even be interpreted as the desire to go there for any reason?

DAVE: hmmm

DAVE: i dont think so

DAVE: i doubt its the kind of thing that comes up in casual conversation with him in general tbh

DAVE: and even then when it comes to personal shit you know how he likes to come over all cagey and jokey and make it out like he isnt dead serious

DAVE: but yeah anyway i can check

KARKAT: I FINALLY GOT HIM TO WATCH BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY FOUR DAYS AGO.

KARKAT: TOOK HIM LONG ENOUGH, IT'S A MODERN MASTERPIECE.

KARKAT: HE BITCHED ABOUT IT OVER TROLLIAN THE ENTIRE TIME.

KARKAT: SO I'LL CHECK MY LOGS TOO JUST IN CASE.

KARKAT: I JUST CAN'T PROMISE YOU'LL FIND ANY EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING BESIDES THE CONTINUED TRAGIC EXISTENCE OF HIS EXTRAORDINARILY STUNTED TASTE IN CINEMA.

JADE: wait.....

ROSE: What?

KARKAT: WHAT.

JADE: do you hear that?

Everyone pulls their eyes from Afterus and looks around. A moment later, you hear it: a low rumble gradually drowns out the gentle pattering of the water spilling from the balloons. Terezi points just behind you.

TEREZI: OV3R TH3R3!

You look back, and see a streak of fiery orange spiralling through the sky, leaving pale trails of exhaust in its wake.

DAVE: thats gotta be dirk

Surely enough, the fiery speck in the sky gradually resolves itself into the shape of your alternate universe ecto-dad, coolly maneuvering his rocket board amid the kaleidoscopic helium balloons. He's not alone: Jane's arms emerge from behind his midsection and coil around it in a death grip; behind her, Jake and Roxy are cheerfully hanging ten.

ROXY: hey!!!! :3

She's the first to dismount, and bounds over to wrap you up in a tight hug. You return it as well as you can. She holds you for a few moments longer and rocks you gently before pulling away and looking you in the eye, her grin vanishing.

ROXY: im sooo so so sooooooo sorry sweety :(

ROSE: It's okay.

ROSE: I mean, 

ROSE: The situation at hand isn't.

ROSE: But I know you did your best.

ROXY: we looked EVERYWHERE

ROXY: i promise

ROXY: cross my heart hope 2 die et cetera

ROXY: except not literally cuz that sucked enough the 1st and 2nd times lbr

ROXY: anyways i rly wish we could say we even found like

ROXY: a clue or s/t

ROXY: turns out j eggs is as wily and elusive as he is silly and adorable

KANAYA: Um

KANAYA: As A Matter Of Fact

ROXY: yeah?

ROXY: hi btw!

KANAYA: Hello There Roxy

KANAYA: We Had Just Established That We Have Not In Fact Looked Everywhere

KANAYA: Despite Our Prior Assumptions To The Contrary

JAKE: Hold the phone whats that now?

DIRK: Yeah. Afterus, right?

JAKE: Oh i love that place!!!

DIRK: I know.

KANAYA: It Is Quite Lovely

KANAYA: I Do Enjoy It Myself

TEREZI: Y34H 1 DONT S33 WHY YOUR3 4LL SO 1FFY 4BOUT 1T

TEREZI: TH3 N3PH1L1M 4R3 4LL PR3TTY N1C3 >:O

JADE: yeah theyre nice if you can pass for one :|

JADE: if not then theyre following you around and trying to cut off some of your hair

ROSE: Didn't they try to take Dave's-

DAVE: i thought we swore we would never speak of that

JAKE: Its actually not so difficult to blend right in if you uncover the knack!

JAKE: On my most recent travails on its pleasingly steamy surface i was able to procure one of their cunning green skull masks and set of robes before much time had elapsed.

JAKE: And what do you know from then on nobody was the wiser with respect to my thoroughly non nephil identity!

JAKE: I mean i did have to agree to a set of terms and conditions thatd put the average t and c on some swank new app or similar to shame.

JAKE: But no harm done i think and the mask goes marvelously with the majority of my customary ensembles at least.

DIRK: ...Dude.

DIRK: You do realize only members of that cult wear those masks and robes, right?

JAKE: I dont know about THAT.

JAKE: By which i mean that i actually factually *dont* know about that unpleasant to say.

JAKE: Anyhow ive got the gear in my sylladex right now if you want to take a gander. :D

DIRK:

DIRK: That's alright.

JAKE: Suit yourself bro.

Jane finally clambers from where she'd been leaning heavily against a tree, having spent the last few minutes with her mouth pinched shut and her eyes closed.

JANE: Hello, one and all! Sorry for making you wait up for me.

JANE: ....Ughhh...

She cringes again and massages her stomach with one hand.

JANE: Dirk, I hate to say it, but I don't think I am ever going to get used to that contraption of yours.

JANE: I can't believe you not only ride it routinely, but that Roxy and Jake actually have the wherewithal to stick their toes out from its edge!

JANE: Even the thought of that makes my insides do the hula.

ROXY: awww janey

ROXY: u know dirk wouldnt actually let you fall

DIRK: I don't know about that, Rox.

DIRK: I mean, I do basically possess mastery of my preferred mode of transport transcending even the bounds of conventional conceptions of human-machine relations,

DIRK: To the point at which my board might just as well be literally regarded as a part of me.

DIRK: But who knows.

DIRK: Maybe one day I'll get reckless.

DIRK: Take a swerve around a temple or obelisk just a little too hard.

DIRK: Lose myself so thoroughly in the Zen-like serenity of the journey that it completely slips my mind I've got a passenger at all.

DIRK: You know?

JANE: Dirk! >:B

JANE: You're not helping in the slightest, I will have you know!

DIRK; There’s also the fact that you can fly.

DIRK: And are immortal, if conditionally.

ROXY: pfffffttt

JANE: Oh hush!!!

JANE: It’s easy to forget all that when you’re in a tizzy!

JAKE: If its any reassurance hes saved my clumsy caboose on more occasions that can be handily enumerated.

DIRK: You really did kind of spend more time raining panicking English all over the skeleton cities on Lomax than actually accompanying me on the board.

ROXY: rofl

JAKE: :(

ROXY: sorry j

JANE: Hoo. :B

JANE: Anyhoo! I missed a little of that conversation. Would anyone mind filling me in?

ROSE: We were just discussing the possibility that John has gone to Afterus.

JANE: To Afterus?

JANE: What on earth would he go there for?

JANE: Or what on Afterus, as it were.

TEREZI: M4YB3 TH3 N3PH1L1M K1DN4PP3D H1M FOR S1N1ST3R PURPOS3S ONLY COMPR3H3NS1BL3 TO TH3M

JANE: Don’t say that!

JANE: There must be a _reasonable_ explanation behind all this!

ROSE: I’m sorry.

ROSE: I wish I could tell you.

Just like that, the jocular mood disappears almost palpably. For a minute, the only sounds to be heard anywhere are the cascade of water from the balloons and the trickling of the streams.

DAVE: okay so

DAVE: werent we going to look at our recent pesterlogs with john or something to see if he mentioned anything to do with afterus

ROXY: oh?

ROSE: That's right.

ROSE: If you would, Dave? As well as any of the rest of you, if you can.

DAVE: on it

KARKAT: GOT IT.

JANE: Sure thing!

Dave returns to his phone, navigating back to Pesterchum. Jane and Karkat likewise settle themselves on the ground and open their laptop and husktop respectively.

After a few moments pass, you can't help noticing a distinct furrow in your twin's brow as he scrolls, mouthing indeterminate fragments of conversation with himself as he swipes the screen. Eventually, he actually reaches for his shades and slides them off, leaning in and squinting at the screen.

DAVE: the FUCK

You feel your blood turn to ice.

ROSE: What?

ROSE: What's wrong?

DAVE: i dont see any

ROSE: Any what?

DAVE: any logs of my conversations with him

You lock eyes with him. His eyes are wide and his complexion is deathly pale.

ROSE: But you said you'd only spoken with him recently.

DAVE: i know what i said

DAVE: and im positive ive got the date right too

DAVE: but the logs are literally gone

DAVE: even the messages i just sent to him like an hour ago asking him where the hell hed fucked off to and if he could be bothered to message me back or what

JAKE: What?

JAKE: How in the name of old saint peter can THAT be????

DAVE: its not just the recent ones either

DAVE: and not all of my logs with just anyone

DAVE: the rest are fine

DAVE: its just the ones involving john thatve been deleted

JANE: You're not serious!

DAVE: is this really the time or situation to be joking

JANE: No!

JANE: That's not what I meant. I'm sorry.

JANE: But I do find it a little hard to believe they'd just up and vanish!

DIRK: Are you sure they're not just in another folder?

Dave wordlessly hands his iPhone over to Jane. Dirk, Jake, Roxy, Kanaya, and Terezi crowd around her, peering over her with ashen faces at the little screen.

KARKAT: HOLY SHIT.

KARKAT: MY CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM ARE GONE TOO.

Everyone looks around at Karkat, who sits in front of his screen with his mouth open and a stunned expression having overtaken his sharp features.

KARKAT: IT'S NO USE. I CHECKED THE VIDEO CAPTURES FROM THE VIEWPORT, TOO.

KARKAT: FOR SIGNS OF HIM, I MEAN.

KARKAT: THERE'S NOTHING THERE. IT'S LIKE THE IDIOT NEVER EVEN EXISTED.

JANE: I can't find a single thing on my own laptop either!

JANE: But...

JANE: Hmmmmmm.

JANE: Maybe...

She shuts her laptop, returns Dave's phone to him, and stands up, stroking her upper lip as if imagining an impressive mustache there.

KANAYA: Maybe What

JANE: Maybe this is a prank?

The whirring in your brain grinds to a halt.

Could it be?

TEREZI: TH4T IS 4 GOOD PO1NT >:O

No. No, it's not.

ROSE: No!

Nine quizzical pairs of eyes turn to you.

ROSE: He wouldn't do this.

ROSE: John wouldn't do something so cruel.

Dirk raises an eyebrow.

DIRK: Can you really be so sure of that?

DAVE: no rose has a point

DAVE: he has pulled some uncool shit in the past but

DAVE: something of this kinda magnitude doesnt seem like his style

DAVE: plus he can never resist letting the scheme slip at some point

DAVE: basically because hes a huge doofus and also he starts to genuinely feel bad if he leads somebody down the garden path too long

ROSE: There is that, and there is also the question of whether he would be able to access Dave's phone, Jane's laptop, and Karkat's husktop, in quick succession,

ROSE: Both without their knowledge, and long enough to extensively edit their records of having talked to him.

TEREZI: M4YB3 H3 H4CK3D 1NTO TH3M >:?

TEREZI: 1M NOT 3X4CTLY ON TH3 UP 4ND UP 4S R3G4RDS '''''''T3H COD3Z''''''' BUT SOLLUX COULD PULL SOM3 ST34LTHY L33T SH1T B4CK 1N TH3 D4Y

KARKAT: OK, BUT

KARKAT: AND NO OFFENSE TO THOSE NOT PRESENT, EXCEPT ACTUALLY NO AND FUCK YOU JOHN EGBERT, I'M PUTTING ON MY GROWNUP STEAMPRESSED GODPANTS HERE AND YOUR AWOL ASS CAN SURE AS HELL ACCEPT THAT GAUNTLET OF HUMILITY TOO,

KARKAT: ...HE'S

KARKAT: WELL

KARKAT: ALMOST AS BAD AS ME AT THAT SHIT.

TEREZI: >8O!!

TEREZI: G4SP

KANAYA: We Have Had A Breakthrough

KANAYA: Excuse Me While I Take My Leave To Inform The Nondescript Masses

KARKAT: OH FUCK YOU BOTH.

ROXY: mmmmmmh

JADE: roxy? :o

ROXY: 2 b frank...

ROXY: id have to go w/both tz and nubby ragehornz on this

KARKAT: THA-

KARKAT: OH, FUCK YOU TOO!!

ROXY: :p chiiiiill dude

KARKAT: NO.

ROXY: y

KARKAT: ):<B

KANAYA: Heh

ROXY: but ok seriously like....

ROXY: that sorta hacking is technically possible yes

ROXY: and johnnys a smart guy and all that

ROXY: but

ROXY: l33t haxx0rmast3r

ROXY: he is not

Your eyes wander to Afterus again. It's surely your imagination, but it seems even further away than it was before. Every minute spent debating and dawdling here is beginning to feel like nothing more than letting John slip yet further and further away, too.

ROSE: I think, by now, the only thing we can do is go to Afterus and search for him in person.

JADE: ...i think youre right :(

KARKAT: ALL OF US?

KARKAT: THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE FASTEST WAY TO DEAL WITH IT.

DIRK: Actually, that would be a bad idea.

KARKAT: AND WHY WOULD THAT BE, OH HIGH AND MIGHTY DAVE'S ALTERNATE UNIVERSE SLIME GUARDIAN.

DIRK: Think about it for just one second.

DIRK: For one, the nephilim bear only a passing resemblance to humans, and only a somewhat greater one to trolls.

DIRK: One person on their own wouldn't be that conspicuous, in most likelihood.

DIRK: But think about the attention we'd draw to ourselves if there were ten of us flying around there, especially considering it's a pretty small planet and news of our presence will travel fast.

DIRK: Positive attention or not, there's essentially no way that wouldn't end up massively forestalling our progress in finding John. That'd be doubly true if they decided to get aggressive.

KANAYA: That Does Make Sense Im Afraid

KANAYA: Though We Might Attempt To Disguise Ourselves To Some Extent

DIRK: Hold your horses, I'm not done. There's more.

DIRK: Afterus is far from ideal in terms of living conditions, with respect to humans and trolls.

DIRK: It's hot as fuck even at night, the landscape is largely barren, and the atmosphere is only breathable for so long before its mild to moderate neurotoxicity to humans, at least, starts to really affect you. I don't know as much about its effect on trolls, but I wouldn't take the risk.

DIRK: That said, you could probably survive for a few days, but it'd be prudent to bring a gas mask for caution's sake.

KARKAT: YEAH, YEAH, WE KNOW ALL THIS ALREADY.

KARKAT: WHAT’S YOUR POINT.

DIRK: My point is this:

DIRK: Just picture the fucking nightmare that bringing ten or even five people into that situation could wind up being, all considered.

DAVE: so going by what youre saying

DAVE: if john really is stuck up there then

DAVE: holy fuck

DAVE: okay yeah can we just decide on somebody to head up there and try to find him

ROSE: I'll go.

JADE: wait!!!!!

ROSE: Waiting really isn't an option right now.

JANE: Rose, Jade is right!

JANE: I'm worried, too, but this is not exactly a situation for hasty decisions!

ROSE: If we aren't at least somewhat "hasty", John could die. Or worse than even that.

JADE: i know but...

JADE: ohhhhh ugh its just

JADE: can we please at least talk it over a little more before putting someone else in danger too?

DAVE: not that it hasnt been informative and all but havent we already done a fuckload of talking

DAVE: if rose wants to volunteer then im not thrilled about that either ngl

DAVE: but the longer we figuratively sit on our asses the greater the likelihood john will be in deep shit if he isnt already

ROSE: Exactly.

JAKE: Rose!

JAKE: The thought of john in danger dips me in distilled dread from crown to tiptoes too believe me.

JAKE: But were all stalwart survivors of sburb here after all are we not?

JAKE: Hes a tough cookie and im sure hes handling himself admirably wherever he might be.

JAKE: And even if he did die hed pop right back up if it wasnt heroic or just. No?

ROSE: I'd much rather we didn't leave him in a situation in which he could die to begin with.

JADE: i understand :(

JADE: but jakes point is that johns been through a lot too, i dont think we need to get really REALLY concerned just yet

ROXY: what if

ROXY: we slept on the decision to elect somebody

ROXY: and decided in the morning or evening or w/e the time of day would technically be

ROXY: idk how time actually works on this planet sry

ROXY: hows that sound

ROXY: and then operation HEIR SUPPLY

DAVE: (oh my god)

ROXY: will resume later

KANAYA: I Think Thats A Good Idea Yes

JANE: I'm up for it!

JAKE: Agreed!

DIRK: I've got no objections.

JADE: that works!

KARKAT: MAKES ENOUGH SENSE.

TEREZI: Y34H

DAVE: rose what do you think

All eyes are on you once more.

ROSE: ...Fine.

ROSE: I can't pretend I'm thrilled, but I'm clearly outnumbered.

~ ※ ~

You fail to sleep on it quite spectacularly.

Throwing your sheets off for what feels like the 8(^8)th time that night, you sit up, sighing. The room is quiet, save for Roxy’s soft breathing coming from the pile of bowed and bearded cat plushies. You walk carefully so as not to disturb her, making your way to the window.

Though less gaudy and bright than LOLAR’s landscape, the dark skies of LOPAN still glisten with webs of color. The horizon is tinged with a dull Technicolor glow, and it’s actually quite a pretty sight--but once again, you don’t really feel up to appreciating the scenery.

Your gaze slowly drifts upwards. You can see the other lands, if you know where to look, Skaia drifting in between, the biggest and brightest sight in the sky. But you only have eyes for the tiny speck of blue, far, far beyond the others.

And then...

You’ve often described your abilities to your friends by comparing them to the universe coughing hints behind its fist. The flashes of insight you’re lucky enough to receive are usually brief, vague, and too faint to initially parse.

This one is about as vague as a sledgehammer to the face.

“ _Go._ ”

What the hell are you still doing here?

Carefully you move around your half the room, grabbing the essentials. You yank off your sleepwear, replacing it not with your regular ensemble but an old set of nondescript, burnt orange robes. The Nephilim recognize your symbol, and at least you’ll be able to pass as mysterious and spooky enough to avoid unnecessary questioning with this outfit (technically a remnant of that one time you and Roxy decided to have ‘a totes kickin wizard party‘, but no one needs to know that).

The soft buzz of your phone makes you jump half a foot.

GA: Rose

TT: Oh, good evening Kanaya.

TT: Can’t sleep either, huh?

GA: Actually I Was Enjoying Quite A Pleasant Doze Until A Few Moments Ago

GA: Until I Was Suddenly Awoken By The Sudden Premonition That One Of Our Number Was About To Do Something Reckless And Possibly Dangerous

TT: Reckless? Dangerous? Goodness, we can’t have that can we.

TT: Rest assured, I will alert you to any reckless activity the moment I catch wind of it.

GA: Silence Crumbs

TT: Silence crumbs, indeed.

TT: ...Where are you right now?

GA: Outside

You turn back to the window. Kanaya waves from a few yards away.

TT: Of course you are.

~ ※ ~

One Nice Abscond later, you’re walking towards her.

ROSE: You really do know me, don’t you?

KANAYA: What Can I Say

KANAYA: Youre Not The Only One With Good Intuition

You shift your feet a little.

ROSE: You’re not going to convince me not to.

KANAYA: I Know

ROSE: I’m probably the one best suited to finding him.

ROSE: I can be humble enough to rely on luck if it helps me find a friend.

ROSE: I mean, powers aside, I am the one who can figure him out best, after all, I am

ROSE: Wait.

ROSE: "You Know?"

ROSE: You're not going to try and stop me?

KANAYA: I Think By Now I Have Sufficiently Learned The Lesson That Once Rose Lalonde Puts Her Mind To Something Reckless Theres No Talking Her Down From It

KANAYA: ...Especially When It May Garner Results

KANAYA: In Any Case

KANAYA: The Only Reason Im Here Is To Give You A Gift

She hands you a small, rectangular box without a lid. Inside it sits two small needles, slender and white. They're far smaller than your usual choice of arms, almost the size of...

ROSE: Pens?

KANAYA: They Can Be

KANAYA: But You Should Be Able To Use Them For Your Usual Purposes

KANAYA: Consider It A Duel Wield Of Sorts

KANAYA: A Weapon For A Writer And A Fighter

ROSE: Have you been carrying this around just in case I might run off on my own to do battle with some particularly feisty paperwork?

KANAYA: Truthfully

KANAYA: I Dont Really Know Why I Did It

KANAYA: I Was Bored A Few Days Ago And Began To Experiment With Alchemizing

KANAYA: And Lo And Behold

KANAYA: A Goddamn Miracle

ROSE: That is way too happy of a coincidence.

KANAYA: Are You Really Complaining Though

ROSE: ...no, not really.

You add them to your specibus, and sure enough, you're able to wield them.

ROSE: "Scheheirazade?" That's quite a mouthful.

KANAYA: Somehow

KANAYA: I Think You Can Handle It

You chuckle.

ROSE: Still looking after me after all this time. I didn't take you for the nostalgic type, Kanaya.

KANAYA: You Can Call It Nostalgia

KANAYA: Personally I Would Call It Caring For A Friend And Wanting To Make Sure She Is Safe

KANAYA: But Thats Just Me

ROSE: ...oh.

The hum of electricity grows loud in the silence.

ROSE: Kanaya,

ROSE: Thank you. Really.

KANAYA:

KANAYA: Just Make Sure He Comes Home Okay

KANAYA: Its Very

KANAYA: Quiet

KANAYA: Without Him Around

A small smile grows behind her fangs.

KANAYA: Not To Mention I Still Need To Convince Him To Be My Model One Of These Days

ROSE: But of course.

You take a breath, tucking Scheheirazade into your satchel.

ROSE: Then...I guess I should be going.

KANAYA: You Should

KANAYA: Be Sure To Give Him A Good Rap To The Head When You Find Him

ROSE: It'll have to wait until I'm done with mine, but I can promise it'll be delivered.

ROSE: ...and if the others get worried...

KANAYA: I Will Tell Them

KANAYA: I Would Say Good Luck But That Would Probably Be Redundant

KANAYA: So

KANAYA: Please Come Back Safely

KANAYA: Both Of You

ROSE: Of course.

KANAYA: :)

Kanaya shrinks to nothing behind you. LOPAN follows soon after. Soon, all the familiar landmarks you’ve grown to know are nothing but pinpricks in the black emptiness.

Ahead of you, Afterus grows and grows.


	3. Chapter 3

** You squint behind your hand at the sun. From what you can tell it’s smaller than the one you grew up with, bright yellow tinged green.   **

**It’s also stupidly hot.**

**Sighing, you look at the surrounding town. The structures are simple--the nephilim are not quite up to modern Earth standards yet, but they’re getting there. Even so, this town is rather sparse and old-fashioned-seeming. The most prominent feature is the building that occupies the center: a temple with a tall spire tower at its front. From its walls hang familiar emblems: the symbols of Breath, Light, Time and Space.**

**Experience would suggest you stay as far away from it as possible.**

**So of course, your foresight is saying the exact opposite.**

**You sigh.**

 

~ ※ ~

** ROSE: Hello?**

** Your voice echoes. The inside of the building is cool, dim and empty--you didn’t see any nephilim outside, either. Perhaps it’s some sort of townwide siesta period? **

** Undeterred, you walk forward into the main chamber. Small chairs carved of wood are arranged in circular rows round a platform, raised very slightly off the ground and engraved with a series of lines which you realize form the logo of Sburb. Caught up in your curiosity, you don’t notice the footsteps until they’re far too close. **

**???: Hello. **

** ROSE: Ah- **

** The last time you were this close to a nephil, they were attempting to convince you to let them wash your feet. At least this one seems friendly, even with the mask.**

** Only their eyes, slitted pupils on white scleras, are visible. Small, pale yellow horns peek out from behind the mask--between that and the gray skin, they could almost be trolls. With any luck, your pulled-down hood and the dim lighting will create the illusion of a skin condition. **

****

** ROSE: Hello. I’m sorry to disturb you. Are you the...person in charge here? **

**???: Oh, no ma’am, I’m just studying here at the moment. Though I would like to rise to be Head Mythkeeper someday!**

** COYR: My name’s Coyr, by the way. I’m just looking after the temple at the moment. Our Head Mythkeeper is out of town, looking into some disagreements about the old canon texts.**

** COYR: Oh...did you need to speak with them?**

** ROSE: No, no, that won’t be necessary, I just... **

** ROSE: I’m looking for someone.**

 

** Your lip twists in a half smile.**

  

** ROSE: Have you seen the Heir of Breath? **

** ROSE: Tall, black hair? **

** ROSE: Wears a ridiculously long blue hood? **

  

** Coyr looks at you oddly.**

  

 **COYR: Is...that a joke? No one has seen our Heir of Breath, or any of the Vanguards, since they appeared to the first followers of Our** **Muse** **.**

** ROSE: Yeah, I thought s- **

** COYR: Unless...unless this is some sort of metaphor?**

** ROSE: Excuse me? **

  

** Coyr is practically vibrating with excitement.**

 

** COYR: D-do you wish to accept Our Heir of Breath into your life??**

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: I **

** ROSE: I guess technically I do? But that’s not- **

** COYR: It’s okay, miss! You don’t have to be ashamed- many don’t start the path to enlightenment until later in life!**

** ROSE: I’m not THAT old- **

** COYR: I can recommend texts, give you a schedule for our sessions, and I think we have some pamphlets lying around back here!-**

 

** Oh hell no.**

 

** COYR: Blah blah blah acceptance blah blah blah even the less fortunate,**

** COYR: blah blah blah lack of horns blah blah blah donation plan...**

** ROSE: Well, Coyr, it sure has been nice speaking with you- **

** COYR: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah readings...**

** ROSE: But I really should be on... **

 

** You pause.**

 

** ROSE: What are readings like, by the way? **

 

** Coyr stops for a moment.**

 

** COYR: Uh, well, we just recite the ancient texts, basically! Sometimes we have sessions in which mythtellers meet from across regions, one recites a tale, and then in response the listener tells one not told in their region, as a way to keep the myths alive!**

 

** You hum thoughtfully. The things John had written had been erased, but would things ABOUT him be erased? **

** Against your survival instinct, you decide to experiment: **

 

** ROSE: May I hear a story about the Heir of Breath, please? **

 

** Idly you wonder if it’s possible for one's eyes to bulge so much they get caught in the eyeholes of one's mask. **

 

** COYR: I...I would love to tell you a story! Ah, please, sit down! **

 

** The excited nephil guides you to a chair, and then practically soars up the podium, pulling a small book from their robes. Once there, their barely repressed excitement melts into a dead serious bearing. **

 

** COYR: Ahem. **

** COYR: _By breath, by light,_ **

** COYR: _by space, by time._ **

** COYR: _I weave my words,_ **

** COYR: _I spin my rhyme._ **

 

** The poem goes on for several stanzas, and you can’t help but feel yourself being drawn in. You always were a fan of the dramatic, and the dramatic is an element Coyr is clearly familiar with. **

 

** COYR: _...Receive,_ **

** COYR: _reflect,_ **

** COYR: _remember._**

  

~ ※ ~

 

 

**The Beginning of the First Cataclysm**

 

 

 

_In those days, our Seer sought a companion to join Her in Her quest to initiate Sburb. Great tempests and fires threatened both our Seer's home and internet connection; nevertheless, She was determined to commence the Trials. But nary a willing nor capable soul could be found. The Witch would have happily accompanied her, but the means had not yet presented themselves. The Knight had no desire to partake in the quest at that time, and advised the Seer to call upon the Heir._

_Our Seer inquired whether our Heir had possession of what was heralded as "The Game of the Year" and was told (after sound advice not to constantly beguile contemptible perjurers or whatever) that He had yet to claim it from His father, who had collected the Mail that day. Being particularly bright in mind and knowing of character, our Seer ascertained that our Heir had "donned one of thy disguises, hasn't thou? Thou art typing to me at this very moment whilst wearing something ridiculous."_

_Our Heir, being mischievous and the Master of Pranks, replied thus: "nay, wherefore wouldst thou believe that? that's so ludicrous." 'Twas only after Her suggestion to confront His father that He revealed that He, indeed, was wearing a disguise most ridiculous. "hehehe"_

_After battling through mountains of cakes and paternal affection and pranks, our Heir gained access to the disc that would allow Them to escape the First Cataclysm. Our Seer and Heir made a connection, and thus, the Heir's home became free to manipulate. She proceeded, verily, to wreck the shit out of everything. After expanding our Heir's room, She deployed Three Great Machines throughout the house. In our Heir's room, she placed the Totem Lathe; the Cruxtruder was elegantly placed into the front door*; and the Alchemiter was placed upon the balcony._

_*At our Heir's request, The Cruxtruder was moved away from the door, for He had not yet achieved powers of Wind nor Appearifying and Disappearifying, and so required use of the door._

  _In our Seer's great wisdom, She displaced the Heir's Chest of Magic upon the roof and tore toilet and bathtub alike from the floor. Now, the great tempests and fires had not yet stopped being Things That Existed, and in our Seer's pursuit to transport the bathtub to the driveway, the internet connection was momentarily interrupted. And lo, the bathtub did crash upon the floor with a mighty rumble._

 

_Our Heir heaved a great sigh and spake: "thou art able to gaze upon me, correct? i bid thee pray tell, what is amiss within this scene?" Our Seer apologized and explained the wireless signal was weak, and feared seeking a stronger one because of the risk of an encounter with her mother._

_Our Heir then attempted to open the Cruxtruder with His Sledgehammer. He was too weak to lift it, so our Seer gave the required assistance through Her cursor. And a Kernelsprite did burst forth from the top of the Cruxtruder, taking the form of a Flashing Blue Ball. A countdown of four minutes and thirteen seconds appeared upon the surface of the Cruxtruder. With a sense of urgency upon Them, our Seer and Heir began to finish the final steps of Entry. The Kernelsprite was prototyped with a maimed Harlequin Doll, and our Heir used the Alchemiter to create His entry item: a blue Apple._

_A meteor gleamed in the sky above our Heir's home. Moments before direct collision, our Heir bit into the Apple and entered His land._

 

  

~ ※ ~

 

** Coyr looks so eager that you don't have the heart to tell them that while the tale certainly gets several points down, it, er... misses others. Still, it's close enough to the actual events to give you some hope that they can help you yet. **

 

** ROSE: Do you have any other records of him? Perhaps a little more recent? **

 

** Coyr _hmmms_ , flipping through pages. **

 

** COYR: None that I can find here. It may be in your best interests to advance to the next town where the lore is kept!**

** You nod and thank them. **

** > Rose: Advance. **

** Grey skies and dim sunlight cloak the next town. It's small with narrow streets and rounded buildings laced in ivy. The temple is not hard to find; it's something of a presence here. **

** Your footsteps echo throughout the ornate hall as you wander in. It's dark and quiet (perhaps everyone has convened to other rooms?) and you would call for someone - but they beat you to the punch. **

 

** NEPHIL: May I help you? **

** ROSE: It depends, I suppose. Could you tell me anything about- **

** ROSE: Um. About the Heir of Breath, and where he may be? **

 

** It disconcerts you how the second half of that sentence nearly slipped away from your tongue. **

 

** NEPHIL: ...Ah. **

** NEPHIL: We certainly would have records of a Breath Player. You are certainly free to peruse our tomes in the room over there. **

 

** They point over to a large room at the top of the stairs. You thank them, and carefully ascend. A thick, intricately patterned book sits upon a wooden stand. You brush your hand over the cover and open it up somewhere in the beginning. **

  

~ ※ ~

 

 **How Our Seer of Light Saved the Land of Wind and Shade and Freed the Fireflies**  

_Our Seer of Light possesses many a Mystical Artifact for focusing Her all-encompassing vision. One of these tools is Her Crystal Ball. During the Vanguards' Session, She alone could divine the movements of the Planets throughout the Medium, and the actions of its inhabitants, and the courses of even the Horrorterrors writhing in the Furthest Ring, in its clear violet depths. One day - Four Thirteen, the blessed day Our Seer of Light, Our Knight of Time, and Our Witch of Space entered the Great and Terrible Game - She sat with Her Grimoire, poring over its runes with Her shrewd visage illuminated by Her Laptop, and Her Crystal Ball resting alongside Her._

 

_All of the sudden, the Magic Cue Ball flared a brilliant orange-red, aflame with the image of the empty Planet, the Land of Wind and Shade, blazing with vermilion fire. In the midst of doing battle with the Guardian of Our Knight of Time, the Universe B1 iteration of Our Prince of Heart, the wrathful Sovereign Slayer had loosed the Red Miles upon the Land of Wind and Shade, and set the empty Planet's tar-black oil rivers and lakes to burning. Though the Land of Wind and Shade never housed any Player, it was peopled with Salamander Consorts, and with Fireflies, and with the Denizen Typheus in its core, and the various and sundry household accoutrements that might have proven useful to a Player were strewn and floating across its slick black face._

 

_Our Seer of Light saw this and was troubled. Though the burning planet's image did serve as a splendid reading light, She could not abide the destruction of the Land of Wind and Shade, useless though it appeared. And so, She reached out to the Breeze that flowed through that planet, which possessed a life and soul all Its own, and which bent to the will of Typheus Himself. She urged the Breeze to quell the fires that threatened the Land of Wind and Shade. However, the Breeze could not understand Her words; only a Breath player, which their Session lacked, could make Their words known to the Breeze._

 

_The flames grew; furthermore, they turned from red to brilliant green; for Our Witch of Space prototyped her Guardian on accident. So, the Sovereign Slayer acquired the canine features and omnipotence of her Guardian, and began to draw his fearsome powers from the Green Sun. The fires set there by the Sovereign Slayer continued to devour the planet; and the Seer feared that the adorable Salamanders would be burnt to a crisp._

 

_Luckily - and luck is ever on Our Seer of Light's side - She is well versed in magic, and clever, and powerful, beyond the most distant hopes of any god or mortal. She took up her Thorns of Oglogoth and conducted the movements of the Breeze Herself, as if directing a grand windy orchestra, so that It swept across the surface of the empty Planet - sadly, the Cosbytop sinking into the oil's depths was not saved - and extinguished the flames presently. So, too, were the thick grey clouds obscuring the empty Planet's surface swept away, and the Fireflies trapped within the clouds were liberated from their prisons, and gratefully fluttered down to reunite with their Salamander friends. The horizons of the empty Planet grew bright, befitting the noble deed of a Hero of Light, and the empty Planet became peaceful, and the Salamanders feasted on juicy grasshoppers in Our Seer of Light's honour, and all was well._

 

 

 

~ ※ ~

 

** It's... wrong, it's all wrong. You shut the book (you nearly tear the cover). There must be something wrong with this copy. Someone must have pulled a really elaborate, really shitty prank. That's all. You're certain if you check another temple's copy, then it will make sense again. You’ll just add some notes in here so everything is set right, and you’ll be on your way. **

** Okay. Good. **

 

  **> Be on your way.**

 

** The next book you encounter is weighed down by thick, Gothic letters and tiny paintings that frame each page. The nephil there tells you there is no chance anyone could have - or would have - vandalized it in any way. The text is precious to them. **

  

~ ※ ~

 

 

 

**The Seer’s Descent into Darkness**

 

  _At that time, the realm of the Gods continued to be wracked by war; and though the Gods sought to bring peace, they faced many difficulties in their quest. For they were even now pursued by the Usurper, the False Queen, who sought chaos and destruction, and death above all else._

_In pursuit, the Usurper came across a golden Fortress in the world below the clouds, the gleaming capital that housed many great texts of wisdom, and entered it; and saw there the near kin of Our Gods, she who had raised the Seer, and he who had taught the Heir; and there the Usurper drew the sword and slew them at once._

_Though she was far away, the Seer witnessed her kin’s death with her gift of far-sight, and swore revenge against the Usurper. But she knew she had not yet the power to act against the Usurper, for she would surely fall to that deadly blade. So the Seer consulted with her Power, and her Power spoke true: that she should seek help from the Elder Gods, that they might grant her that which would lead to the Usurper’s defeat._

_And so the Seer opened her mind to the voices of the Elder Gods, and they did speak to her, and their words were comprehended by the Seer’s great power; and so the Seer took the gifts of the Elder Gods, the power they granted her to defeat the Usurper, and the ability to speak in their tongues, and thus the Seer did ascend to a new level of holiness._

_Then the Seer sought the Fortress, and, finding it, descended upon it in a tempest of darkness and chaos, equal to that which the Usurper had brought._

_In her descent, the Seer met with the inhabitants of that Fortress, and each were blessed with her presence, though it was not yet Light that she bestowed unto them. And the Seer read from the holy texts within, and her wisdom grew immensely._

_But the Seer still had not found her prey, though as she descended further into its depths she grew closer and closer to whom she sought, and the need to avenge her kin burned deep and dark within her heart. The Seer knew she drew close; for as the Usurper had slain, that sword had become covered in their blood, and it was that blood, her own blood, that the Seer followed into the depths of the Fortress._

_The Seer then passed through the heart of the Fortress, and there walked through the Six Acts for the first time; and she understood them, and knew what was to come. And at its very heart which had been untouched by the Usurper, she walked through the final Act, and there she found that which she needed, though she had not yet realized she had been searching for it._

_And so the Seer led that which she needed through the Six Acts, and ascended together to the peak of the Fortress once more; but as they ascended, tears of sorrow were wept, for the Usurper had passed in the Seer’s wake, and slaughtered the inhabitants of the Fortress, black and white alike, so that no mortal remained alive in that now-cursed place._

_When the Seer had ascended, and the light of the world above was visible to them, the Seer was spoken to by that which she had found, and was told thus: that she had eternal gratitude for freeing this one, and for lighting the path outside, where a quest could be continued. And as it had been spoken by the oracle who divines in blood, so it was that they were united for the first time, and they were to be married, and live in peace and happiness for eternity; and thus the Seer spoke her assent, but the words of the Elder Gods yet remained on her tongue, and she could not be understood by any but the Elder Gods._

_Then the Seer left the Fortress, and there she discovered the Usurper, who had lain in wait for her, knowing their final confrontation was forthcoming._

_So the Usurper began their fated battle, and raised that blood-covered sword against the Seer, but it caught only the breeze, and the Seer escaped harm._

_Then she raised her wands against the Usurper, and called upon the power of the Elder Gods, and she struck the sword that had brought so much death to the world, whereupon a shining crack split the sword in two, never to be repaired again; and, raising her wands once more, the Seer struck into the heart of the Usurper, and thus the Usurper was defeated._

_At that very moment, a ray of light broke through the clouds above, and the Seer was restored to the world of Light once more. The voices of the people were raised in celebration of their saviour, the Seer of Light; and in the midst of the celebrations the Seer was married, as had been foreseen, and Light reigned in the world once more._

 

 

~ ※ ~

  

**... **

** You take exactly seventeen seconds to recover from the revelation that, apparently, you are married to eldritch gods. Obviously, some things got lost in translation. They got really, really lost in translation. **

** You remember asking the horrorterrors a question, and going grimdark. Finding your mother and... his father, you will never forget. Then you stormed through the castle in a cold fury, swearing to find Jack, to get vengeance and not finding him. You found someone else who said that Karkat thought the both of you were supposed to get married. He told you this the first time you had technically ever met and he was a little nervous. So were you, but you didn't express it in so many words. It was more dread than nerves, anyways. **

** (You brought him to the rooftop. He cried, and you said nothing. He fell, and you screamed.) **

** You write this down. **

 

** > Rose: Find something that is true. **

 

** The nephil at the next temple you visit - Maex - insists that you need their guidance to properly understand the tales' complexities. Unable to dissuade them, you follow them to the library. **

  

~ ※ ~

 

**The Seer’s Miraculous Revival**

_Black rain spilled over Skaia, over the tattered and crumbling remains of its once opulent castle; the Seer, wrapped in shadows and speaking a monstrous tongue, beheld her earthly stewardess and her gentlemanly companion struck down and bloody at the rogue Archagent's paws._

_The Seer shrieked in rage and grief to see the sight, and lunged with her wands and ghastly magic once more. Alas, she too was shown the Sovereign Slayer's stabs, and fell lifeless alongside her bloodless elders._

_All was not lost: the Seer's communications headwear sprang to life, singing into her unhearing ears the messages of her treacherous fellow Hero of Light from across sister universes. Her jubilant words were these: the Seer could yet revive as her dream self on Derse, the violet Core of Darkness where she slept nightly. This could be so if only a Prince or Princess of Prospit or Derse kissed her back into the world of the living._

 

_But it was not to be so! The Seer definitely had no such company, and there was no need: instead, she resurrected independent of her fellow Skaian royalty. She was bolstered in her will to continue fighting only by the cruel fate of her mother and her mother's suitor, who was not a father to anybody, but would have been an amazing one if he was, and whose son wouldn't have appreciated him nearly enough, if he'd had one. Anyway, she then inhabited her dream self's body, and the two Universe B1 players once again numbered their rightful three._

  

~ ※ ~

 

** Your eyebrows cinch together. You won't deny that you do lead a slightly more magical existence than most folk, but you draw the line at self-resurrection through sheer willpower. **

 

 

** ROSE: ... **

** ROSE: So, in essence, you think the Seer resurrected by herself. **

** MAEX: She must have. As it says, there was no prince or princess to kiss life into her remaining self. **

** ROSE: That's impossible. The writing says it couldn't have happened without someone else. And it didn't. **

** MAEX: Pardon me? **

** ROSE: There was a fourth player who was with the Seer. Where are your records of him? **

** MAEX: There are no records of a fourth player, only three. **

** ROSE: Your records are inaccurate. **

** MAEX: Our records are not mistaken in this regard, I can assure you. **

** ROSE: ... **

** In a flash, you snatch the tome from Maex (too fast for them to even protest) and race into another room with a locking door. Can't have any interruptions while you correct things. **

** You take out Scheheirazade and sit against the door. Although you don't exactly have memories of what happened after your duel with Jack ended, it's not hard to suppose what actually occurred. **

** He must have risen up, having died neither justly nor heroically. He must have seen those messages you only later found in your logs, and taken the required action. You woke up on Derse, still in the cloud of darkness that would accompany you to the Green Sun. **

** You frown at the illustration attached to the myth. Your pen hangs over the page, but you're not as confident about how to remedy this. You remember a bright blue streak of... someone. There's just the question of what precisely that someone looked like. **

** After lingering over it longer than what is really necessary, you opt to call Jade. **

****

** ROSE: Jade, I know this might sound ridiculous, but do you remember what John looks like? **

** JADE: wait what? whos john? **

** Your blood goes cold. **

 

** JADE: by the way, where are you rose? everyones been wondering why you would just take off to afterus all of a sudden like that **

 

** You hang up. Obviously, the best course of action is to hang to what details you can rely on and remember. He looked - looks. looks - like Jade, being ectobiological twins and all. **

** You stare at his face, or lack of one, before thinking of a solution. **

 

 

 

** Wanting to avoid another confrontation, you opt to exit through the window. The sun, however faint, bears down on you, and you squint at the ground. The next town will have answers. Maybe even him. **

** (Maybe you have been breathing the Afteran atmosphere a little too long or seen too much of its sun. Maybe lack of sleep has deceived you into believing he ever existed. Perhaps all of these things.) **

** Because fortune has not completely abandoned you, there are no mythtellers who insist on lecturing you on your own life. (Not that they realize it, but the experience is no less wearying.) One of them points you to the library and you continue your reading. **

 

  

~ ※ ~

 

**The Tale of the Twin Odysseys**

 

_Long ago, both before and at precisely the same time as the Nobles of the Heavenly Tredectet, the four Vanguards faced an impasse. The First Trials of Creation had been sabotaged by a demon called Jack Noir, and the Vanguards found his might impossible to surmount. Worse still, three of their number were as yet Unascended!_

_They were left with no choice but to launch a cataclysmic renewal of Spacetime itself, a last resort sanctioned by the Trials. As this was initiated, Fortune smiled and granted the yet-Unascended their Godhood, and the Vanguards managed to escape their ill-fated timeline before the renewal cosigned them all to oblivion. This renewal is known as The Scratch, and the timeline deriving from it brought forth both the pre-Ascended Nobles and the Second Trials of Creation._

_Self-preservation came at a price, however. The Vanguards were forced to escape the Scratch in sibling pairs, split apart by space and circumstance. The four would not see each other again until their respective journeys to the Second Trials were complete. These travels would total three years exactly._

_The Prospitian Vanguards took to the space between realities on a battleship of glittering gold, while the Dersite Vanguards -- accompanied by the pre-Ascended Alternates -- hurtled through the nigh-unfathomable crenellations of Paradox Space on a meteor set aflame. Navigation fell to the Goddesses, Our Seer of Light carving a fortuitous path through the Unfathomable and Our Witch of Space propelling Her vessel and its inhabitants through the light-streaked void of the Quite Possibly Even More Unfathomable._

 

_During this time, the meteor was a place of social spectacle. Its path cleaved through the vast Tub of the Dreaming Dead, the Vanguards and the Alternates invading their dreams as they dreamed themselves -- and beyond, when fully awake! Our Seer of Light and Our Knight of Time encountered First Love in Our pre-Ascended Sylph of Space and Seer of Mind, respectively. This feeling called Friendship ebbed and flowed as much as the tides of romance amidst them all, and Our pre-Ascended Knight of Blood spent swathes of this time being Kind Of A Jackass (though it is worth noting that because He was not a Complete Jackass He eventually got better)._

_Meanwhile, the Golden Ship was rife with bustle but scarce of dreams of any Meaning. Life, depending on who was asked, was either perfectly acceptable or perfectly boring. Games were played; movies watched; cakes baked. Time was whiled away, both on-ship and in the worlds Our Witch of Space had compressed and carried onboard from the First Trials. She too found love, in a displaced iteration of Our Knight of Time borne of corvid wings and orange creamsicles._

_But trouble did not evade the Vanguards -- they were young gods still! Our Seer of Light took to drink, then imbibed in excess as the final year of their sojourn marched onward. Both Knights of Time withdrew from their beaus, while Our Seer of Mind engaged in ill-advised kismesissitude_ **_ †_ ** _and Our Witch of Space tried Her best to understand. The Golden Ship once suffered a burst of sound and fury, brought forth by an Idiot and probably signifying nothing what ever._

_Eventually, the twin odysseys drew to a close. No one was quite the same any longer (at least no one worth noting), but there was work to be done. And nothing set this into motion sooner than the Batterwitch springing her trap upon the Vanguards' arrival, wisking away both Our Witch of Space and Our Maid of Life from their friends and adopting them into her wicked services._

_The Grimbark Witch of Space afforded one small favor in this chaos: Situating everyone for a not-quite-complete reunion of the Vanguards, the Alternates, and The Best Mayor In Any Universe Ever. Dropped into Our Page of Hope's land until they were to be separated once more, Our Progenitors began to plan._

  **†** _The identity of said kismesis remains, as is tradition, He Who Shall Not Be Named Because Seriously Fuck That Guy._

 

~ ※ ~

 

** Witches and Knights and Seers and Sylphs... even Kismeses Who Shall Not Be Named. You check the index to see if that yields any results, but it's mysteriously blank of the "Breath, Heir of" or "Breath Player" or "Heirs, Human". It doesn't mean anything. Indexes have flaws all the time. Books this thick certainly have answers; you'll just opt to skim through it. **

** (If by skim, you mean carefully read cover to cover, trying to find anything. Even a mention of his name.) **

** Your heart nearly stops when you see it. **

 

 

~ ※ ~

 

 

**How our Seer came to our Heir in a Time Past and yet Present**

 

_Behold, during the voyage to the New Trials, a mysterious event took place. It happened upon Our Heir of Breath’s celebration of Birth, and he was finally going through much a troubling revelation after revelation. Sorrowful, he retreated into the tub of dreams to clear his mind._

_As Our Heir of Breath’s consciousness traversed to the land of memories and dreams, the traitorous Archagent continued to be assailed by the Monarch. Her righteous blade thirsted after his dirty blood, as he had taken the lives of her dear companions and consorts two years prior. For two long, mind-numbing and horrible beast-filled years, the two had been locked within combat. Quite frankly it was getting to be a little much for the Archagent. Even a murderous Sovereign Slayer can get tired of fighting that long. The Archagent retreated into a memory, of whose none can tell, as the source became lost in the echelon of the Dark Throes history and majyks._

_A familiar castle became the Archagent’s temporary haven, and he stepped over the bodies of his fellow Carapacians, and passed the Sashes of the Vanguards, dodging the Blanche Monarch. The Archagent ascended to the highest tower of the castle, to find a scene that he remembered well. Here, or there, for he was not really there, he had done battle with Our Seer of Light and Our Heir of Breath, and thus had slain them. A chest awaited, something that had not been there before. The Archagent opened it, only to be sorely disappointed with the contents. A hammer, though ridiculous in style, which held great power._

_It was then that our Heir awoke within the form of his own dead memory husk, and assailed the Archagent with his powers of wind, and the very hammer that the Archagent had obtained. They did battle, but the Archagent could not be fully attacked, being fast beyond measure._

_But Luck was on the side of our Heir! Out of the yonder skies, which had been filled with inky blackness of dark memories past, a bright light shone over the gladiators ongoing battle. A lovely vision of warmth and light brought forth a familiar face. A friendly face. Our Seer of Light appeared, and gave a gracious smile, and an alluring wink to Our Heir and the Archagent, before disappearing to the waking world once more._

 

_The Archagent was still befuddled over the circumstances, and was 8ONKED! soundly by our Heir. Our Seer had given him just the Distaction that had been required to land a hit on the Archagent. From the hammers power, came forth a ridiculous hat called upon by the Gods of luck, which shamed the Archagent. The Archagent would have split our Heir into many pieces, but the Blanche Monarch had arrived! He fled once more, fearing her icy wrath. Our Heir would go on a longer adventure inside this dream, but he could not forget the fleeting face of Our Seer, who had assisted him in his conquest._

 

 

~ ※ ~

 

** And just like that, your heart sinks. You don't remember this at all - at least, the parts about him being there. PM had already advanced upon Jack when you popped in for those brief seconds. Although Jack wore a ridiculous hat, there was no evidence that... **

** Shit. What was his name? It was fresh in your memory not even that long ago. You would message someone, but what if they've forgotten even more than you have? What if they ask why you're chasing after someone who doesn't exist? **

** Scheheirazade feels heavy in your hands. You suddenly feel very, very foolish and very, very small. When you drew - him - into that illustration of you coming back from the dead... were you just graffitiing a sacred text all along? Were the people who conceived of him to begin with simply doing the same? **

** Maybe it’s all a vast joke after all. An ambitious prank, just as Jane said before you left. (Didn’t she? But about what?) Shouldn't you have realized by now that you are not immune from becoming the beneficiary of a cosmic farce? **

** The shelves tower tall and austere over you. You scarcely even know what you’re looking for any more. You can scarcely bring yourself to feel that you should even bother. **

**_Just one more and I’ll know for sure_ , you tell yourself, and try very, very hard to believe it. **

 

 

~ ※ ~

 

 

 

**How Our Seer of Light Once More Bent the Breeze To Her Will, And Undid The Lord of Time's Stardust Machinations**

 

 

 

_As the Meteor that carried Our Seer of Light, Our Knight of Time, Our Seer of Mind, Our Knight of Blood, Our Sylph of Space, and Our Beloved Mayor approached brilliant Skaia, the corrupted Witch of Space - made Grimbark, beastly and wolflike, by Her Imperious Condescension - descended upon them with a fearsome snarl. In a flash of chartreuse sparks, She flung the Meteor-borne Vanguards, Their Patrons, Her own Patron, and The Best Fucking Friend To Whom You Can Tell Anything <3 to the Land of Mounds and Xenon, where the Golden Ship had landed to rest among the sprawling green mounds and scarlet megaliths. _

_The companions rose from where They lay beneath the flickering deep violet sky, and conferred in hushed and worried tones. They agreed to seek the Nobles, Our Maid of Life, Our Page of Hope, Our Rogue of Void, and Our Prince of Heart, who were to be Their compatriots in the quest to win the Game. Sadly, They knew not where They might find Their future comrades, but carried hope in Their stout divine hearts that searching the Planet upon which They had been stranded would eventually yield fruit._

_Horror of horrors, the Grimbark Witch of Space re-emerged in a flare of uranium green, and pursued Them once more. She scattered Them to various Planets: Our Seers to the Land of Light and Rain, Our Knight of Time and Our Best And Most Adorable Mayor to the Land of Heat and Clockwork, and Our Knight of Blood and Our Sylph of Space to the Land of Frost and Frogs._

_Our Seers cried out in displeasure when They awoke on the Planet to which They had been banished: the luminous Land, though beautiful, caused Our Seer of Mind's healed eyes to sting and Our Seer of Light's hungover head to throb. Furthermore, bright scum and artifacts filled the air and obscured the Players' words to one another. Our Seer of Light attempted to contact Her brother, Our Knight of Time, but some of Her words were lost to Him; He was perplexed and even less able than usual to parse what exactly the fuck She was saying. For the wicked Lord of Time had gleefully stuffed the Game full with His prized Special Stardust, causing the Game to glitch, and progress through the Game to become yet more taxing._

_But, Our Seer of Light saw the way by which She could clear away the Special Stardust. She ventured backward through Her vast and crystal-clear memory, and recalled the time She commanded the Breeze to still and vanquish the fires that threatened the Land of Wind and Shade, precious even as it had never seen a Player enter Sburb and Build their House upon its surface. Deep within herself, Our Seer of Light called the Breeze once more; It came to her from beyond the bounds of reality itself as if It was a dear friend._

 

_The Breeze unfurled itself throughout Her glitching Planet, and banished the Special Stardust from the Land. The Players were once again free to converse with One Another as they required, and Our Seer of Mind to look upon the smiling face of Her fellow Seer - who had pilfered Our Seer of Mind's rad shades unseen - and glare, regretting that Our Seer of Light could flash-step._

  

~ ※ ~

 

 

**> Rose:**

 

**> Rose: |**

 

**> Rose:**

 

**> Rose: |**

 

**> Rose: Suddenly realize you have no idea what to do now.**


	4. Chapter 4

** Sure, you could keep on going. More seeking myths, more attempts to puzzle out what real life event these story-tellers had cheerfully warped to near-oblivion, more edits. But what good would it really do? There’s an entire world of nephilim who are believing less and less in an Heir of Breath out there. **

 

** An entire world of nephilim, and at least one human. **

 

** Because that’s the one thing that’s been lurking behind your ear this whole time, insidious and whispering. The thing you feared this entire time wasn’t being able to find him, it was realizing there was no ‘him’ to find in the first place. **

 

** A boy with no name. A boy with no face. A boy with no trace, save for occasional mentions in stories of dubious citation. **

 

** It would make sense, wouldn’t it? In all those stories you’ve found that mention the two of you, he was the one who was always your friend. Always supporting you, always caring for you, even in your worst moments. To hope that such a person could exist outside of the realm of fiction would be straining suspension of disbelief to its snapping point. **

 

** Maybe you weren’t trying to find that boy. Maybe you just wanted to believe that someone like that existed. **

 

**...You suddenly become aware that it has begun to rain. **

****

****   


 

** Both time and space wandered away from you quietly. You’ve been walking, and walking, and walking for hours with not even a glimmer of foresight to give so much as a half-coughed hint. You left the outskirts of the last town hours ago, and are currently in the middle of some isolated field. No dwellings, no lights. There is only grass below and a rapidly swelling storm above. **

 

** You are completely alone. **

 

**???: What are you doing standing out in the cold? **

****

****   


 

** You look around to see a familiar face. A short nephil stands by your side, a wild tangle of dark hair poking out from from their mask. **

 

** ROSE: What...who are you? **

** LAGO: I am Lago, and YOU are standing in my backyard.  **

 

** Blinking, you look around.  A ways behind the little nephil sits a squat dwelling with a lopsided, yet prominent spire. It seems your supposedly random wandering has deposited you right on the doorstep of a mythteller’s temple.  **

 

** ROSE: How convenient. **

** LAGO: What? **

** ROSE: It’s nothing. **

** LAGO: ...Well come inside at least. You’ll catch your death out here. **

 

~ ※ ~

 

** It looks as small inside as it does out, but it’s warm and rather cozy. A tiny fire burns in the corner, green and crackling. Hands warmed by a cup of tea, your eyes wander around the walls, skimming past the familiar sigils, Space’s spiral, Time’s gear, your own sun, and... **

 

** LAGO: Honestly, what were you doing so far away from a town? You’re not on one of those pilgrimages, are you? I know this is an isolated temple, but that doesn’t make it important or anything. Really, I just like my privacy. **

 

** ROSE: That sigil- **

 

** Your voice shakes more than it should as you point. Lago looks at you with bemusement. **

** LAGO: The...sigil of Breath? What about it? **

 

** Your heart stops. **

 

 **LAGO: Does it...look wrong? I could never get the sigils right,** **Muse** **, they always say Breath is the easiest but it’s harder than it looks-**

** ROSE: You know who bears it? **

** LAGO: ...What do you think I am, stupid? The sigil of Breath is borne by Our Heir of Breath, you don’t have to be a mythteller to know that.  **

 

** The room feels like it’s shrinking. **

 

** ROSE: ...I have been on a journey. I’ve gone from city to city, trying to find tales about the Heir of Breath. But it seems like nobody else remembers him...it’s like he’s been slowly disappearing from their stories. **

**LAGO: What?? That’s impossible--the Heir of Breath is one of the most key players in all the old stories-- maybe the MOST key!** **Muse** **, what has been happening out there?**

** ROSE: You have no knowledge of the Heir being censored from the texts? **

** LAGO: Don’t be ridiculous, our texts don’t get censored. I haven’t heard anything about this, I mean, I’m out of the way from most everyone...it almost sounds like they’ve forgotten him. **

 

** The surface of your tea begins to quake as Lago tuts. **

 

 **LAGO: Honestly, every sweep gets a little worse. Mythtellers forget things, warp things...maybe they siphoned him out for more room for other deities.** **Muse** **! I bet that’s it, those airheads. Heirless heads. I swear, if I had a boonbuck for every time I heard some new addition to The Sorrows of The Knight of Time--**

** ROSE: Please, tell me one. **

** LAGO: Are you kidding?! Those are all fake, they’re not even good! **

** ROSE: No, the Heir. Tell me a story about the Heir. **

 

** The magic words. Lago straightens up immediately. **

 

** LAGO: Heheheheh... **

 

** The nephil jumps to sit down in front of you, cross-legged, and clears their throat. **

 

** LAGO: By breath, by light **

** LAGO: by space, by time... **

 

** As you hear the now familiar invocation your pulse pounds. For the first time in a while, a sense of hope begins to simmer in your blood. **

 

** LAGO: ...Receive, **

** LAGO: reflect, **

** LAGO: remember. **

** Let’s hope so. **

 

~ ※ ~

 

**The Creation**

 

 _At long last, the Trials were over. Batterwitch and Jerklord placed into their respective graves, the Slayer finally slain, and Our Beloved_ _Muse_ _rescued from beyond the Veil, The Vanguards and The Nobles could finally lay down their arms._

 

_A lengthy and arduous journey it had been, but there was still much work left to be done. Under the careful eye of the Witch of Space, the session's frog had grown to take its rightful form of our universe. The seed of Afterus planted, our world was ready to begin its careful cultivation under the loving eyes of our Vanguards._

 

_But a world can not grow and thrive without life, and there were still many "seeds" to be "planted."†_

 

 _†Thought to be a direct quote from_ O _ur Knight of Time, who was said to receive a rap across the backside of the head from Our Maid of Life for that. Because, dude, come on, that was lame._

 

_And so it came that it was time to begin filling Afterus with life. The Nobles retreated to the Land of Our Maid. Our Witch and Knight retreated to their own privacy, with the Knight's hints of what was to come swallowed into echos by the fabric of Spacetime itself._

 

_And so it came that Our Seer and Our Heir were left alone together._

 

_And thus spoke the Seer: "Well then, I suppose it'd be the appropriate time to ask if you will..."  And so shook her legendary brow with her words: "take my breath away?"_

__  


 

_And thus responded the Heir: "My lady, I would be..." And so he matched the arc of her brow with a mighty waggle of his own: "deLIGHTed to."_

 

_And so, the Exchange of Terrible Puns complete, the Heir carried the Seer to his bed of ghosty sheets to begin their ritual. Blue eyes sweeping up and the down her sleek limbs, he caressed her cheek with slender fingers. She returned the favor, tracing lines in his freckles and basking in his scent of nerd and snack food._

__  


 

_Purple orbs joined with blue oculars, a blue so blue it blew her mind clean of all things but the throbbing passion joining the two. The Heir's hand linked fingers with hers. Eyeing the fine sheen on his brow, The Seer knew he could not hold himself back a second longer. And so she brought his hand to her lips to press a kiss and a single whispered word:_

 

_"Come."_

 

With a frenzied scream, The Heir's skin erupted into thousands upon thousands of glittering green scales. The Seer cut the air with her own scream, neck stretching an impossible distance as her vocal cords transformed her sound into a ear-splitting screech.

 

 

_Limbs withering and torsos bending and breaking, The Seer and Heir so did let their true selves into the light. Impossibly mighty and enormous their muscled lengths were, coiled and writhing against each other with tumultuous shrieks and hisses. And so did the Seer sink her magnificent fangs into the throat of the Heir, upon which he-_

 

** ROSE: Stop, stop, stop!!! **

 

** Unwittingly you have risen to your feet. Lago looks up, taken aback. Your face is redder than you care to admit. **

 

** ROSE: What the hell... what the hell IS this dreck?! **

**LAGO: Excuse me?! This is one of the most important myths of our time, one vital to the canon of our teachings, passed down by the** **Muse** ** herself!**

** ROSE: It sounds like you ate a bargain bin romance novel and shat it out!! **

**LAGO: I--! Okay, I don’t really know what a bargain bin is, but I do not like your tone of voice Miss!** **Muse** **, is it like this with all hornless??? I mean, first that ass with the blue hood and now this! You kids these days just can’t grasp the delicacy of fine art!**

** ROSE: You wouldn’t know fine art if it came over and bit you on the- **

 

** You pause. **

 

** ROSE: ...ass with the blue hood? **

**LAGO: Yeah! Some hornless prick waltzed his way over here a few days ago, all wanting to hear Heir stories just like you and when it’s over, you know what he says? “that one’s not even worth touching!” And then he just pops right!** **Muse** **forbid he think to show some gratitude-**

** ROSE: What did he look like? **

 

** The nephil is surprised to see you standing closer than you should have been. **

 

** LAGO: What...I don’t know! Tall, dark-skinned, no horns. Had those speckles on your face like you do--is that a hornless thing or what? **

** ROSE: What color were his eyes? **

** LAGO: How should I know?? I wasn’t taking a census! And anyways, he had those weird, you know, those eye glass things... **

 

** Standing dead still, your mind begins racing in a million and one directions. **

 

** He was here. **

 

** You don’t know that. It could have been someone else. **

 

** But if it was him! **

 

** You can’t get your hopes up.  **

 

** But someone did actually remember him! **

 

** A someone who thinks that humans turn into snakes as foreplay. Dream on, Lalonde. **

 

** But- **

  


** LAGO: ...return? **

** ROSE: What? **

** LAGO: You’re from another region, aren’t you going to tell a story in return? Or, oh, I’m sorry, I forgot my story is DRECK. I’m sure you can do so much better! **

** ROSE: ...That one’s not even worth touching. **

** LAGO: ARE YOU FUCKING- **

** ROSE: It didn’t even happen! **

** LAGO: Oh, yeah, and I’m SO sure you would know! What, were you there taking notes or something?! **

 

** The rebuke dies on your tongue. Actually, considering your altered memories, you realize that it is entirely possible that something similar to that story... **

 

**...you decide that you should probably stay away from that train of thought. Far away. The room suddenly feels warmer. **

 

** LAGO: Fine! If you think you’re too good for my stories, then you can just see yourself out! **

 

** The nephil grabs your now-cold cup of tea and marches to the back of the dwelling. **

 

** ROSE: ...I guess I can. **

 

** Your legs are numb as you walk to the the door. What happens now? You have nothing resembling a lead, and you don’t see anything even close to a new path. All your foresight is telling you to do is open the door. **

 

** So you do. **

 

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. **

 

** Crowded just outside the door stand Maex, Coyr, all the different nephilim you’ve encountered over the past few days, clutching their robes tight to them and looking totally out of place against the storm brewing behind them. All of them are watching you with huge eyes. But the one who draws your attention is the figure who stands at the forefront, wearing white robes and a smile. **

 

** Notably, she lacks a mask. **

 

** LAGO: Are you still there? **

**LAGO:** **Muse** **, if you’re not going to leave at least shut the door. You’re letting the hot...air...**

 

** Behind you Lago’s footsteps slowly stop. You hear a noise that sounds vaguely like a stuck pipe. **

 

** LAGO: y...you’re the...our...you... **

** CALLIOPE: pardon the intrUsion! **

** CALLIOPE: woUld you mind ever so mUch if we came in? nUn **


	5. Chapter 5

** The sitting room is a lot more cramped now. **

****

 

** You’re sitting back by the fire, this time with a nephil at each shoulder. Everyone else is afraid to dare to sit too close to the Cherub. For the record, she seems happily oblivious to their awe, munching on the sacred sweets Lago provided. **

 

** CALLIOPE: these are fantastic, lago! my compliments. **

** LAGO: **

** CALLIOPE: if it woUldn’t be too mUch troUble, woUld yoU happen to have any steak lying around? **

** LAGO:  **

** LAGO: ah **

** LAGO: OH YES!! Steak. The steak I have. I will do. That. Get it.  **

 

** With a flash of movement Lago disappears into the back room. Calliope smiles, turning to you.  **

 

** CALLIOPE: i sUppose...yoU mUst have a lot of qUestions right now. **

** ROSE: I suppose that’s one way to put it. **

 

** Calliope leans back, chewing on a lolly thoughtfully. **

 

** CALLIOPE: it’s all still a little confUsing. it seems, even as a fUlly realized mUse of space, i still learn something new about my aspect every day.  **

** CALLIOPE: maybe i simply can’t learn everything. **

** CALLIOPE: bUt i did learn something, recently. about yoUr friend, and the ability to retcon.  **

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: When you say, ‘friend’ **

** ROSE: you imply that he does actually exist? **

 

** Calliope hums. Every eye in the room is on her. **

 

** CALLIOPE: it started at the library. **

** CALLIOPE: a lot of my followers live there with me, and i task them every day with reading over my logs. **

** CALLIOPE: one day, one of them came to me, saying that there were words missing from one of the scriptUres! **

** CALLIOPE: more and more of them came forward. holes had begUn to appear in all of my stories! **

** CALLIOPE: as yoU can imagine, i was more than a little Upset by this. UmU **

** CALLIOPE: what’s more, people began to actually forget the missing parts! **

** ROSE: So you knew about all this. **

** CALLIOPE: i’m sorry i didn’t come to yoU all sooner, rose. U_U i really did not know how to handle something like this! **

** CALLIOPE: i knew i had to do something, but i didn’t know what. as a mUse, i can’t act proactively like you can to get things done. **

** CALLIOPE: yoU know, for a very long time during the game...i was very displeased with the passive natUre of my role. it always seemed like i was jUst waiting for things to be done, waiting to be saved, while enormoUs things happened all around me. **

** CALLIOPE: i felt so weak. **

** CALLIOPE: Useless, honestly. **

** CALLIOPE: bUt since then, i’ve come to realize that a mUse’s power to inspire is incredibly powerful! when i set events into motion, i can caUse amazing things to happen! even as a passive role, i’ve inspired many people on this planet to do things that revolutionized their lives!  **

** CALLIOPE: and i have inspired people in smaller ways as well. **

** CALLIOPE: ...sUch as inspiring someone to craft a new weapon that could remedy retcons, for example. **

** ROSE: ...Kanaya.  **

** ROSE: Of course. You inspired Kanaya to create Scheheirazade. It was so obvious. **

** CALLIOPE: who better to assist in the healing of spacetime’s fabric than a sylph of space? ^U^ **

** CALLIOPE: in fact, i was very serioUsly considering having her be the one to assist me in editing all the myths back to their proper form. **

** CALLIOPE: but i realized i needed someone who had a bit of lUck on their side. someone who knew just where to go and when. **

** CALLIOPE: ...and also... **

** CALLIOPE: it only seemed fair to yoU to have yoU be the one who finds yoUr friend.  **

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: Calliope, I’ll ask you once more: **

** ROSE: All this...it means he does exist? **

** CALLIOPE:  **

** CALLIOPE: no **

** CALLIOPE: and yes. **

** ROSE: I don’t... **

** CALLIOPE: rose, **

** CALLIOPE: woUld yoU mind terribly **

** CALLIOPE: if i were to tell you a story? **

 

** Whatever opinion you may or not have had on the matter is immediately drowned out by the sound of every nephil in the room leaning forward. **

 

** ROSE: ...I guess that’s a yes. **

 

** Calliope closes her eyes. **

 

~ ※ ~

 

**The Reluctant Heir**

 

_On the opposite side of the Veil, the Heir walked with the dead, their bodies cold, their hearts filled with determination. It was here his guide, Our Thief of Light, had been banished to, and it was here that she would be his guiding Light for the last time._

 

__

 

_She led him to a treasure that granted an immeasurable power. It was said that this weapon was strong enough to rend the threads of reality apart, to alter existence to such an extent that it could not even be called "altering." This power, strong enough to go against the Lord of Time, was dangerous, a danger of magnitude unimaginable to mortal souls._

 

___ _

 

 

_And so, the Heir of Breath stuck his goddamn hand in it._

 

** ROSE: Calliope, why are you telling me this all this? I already know how it happened, he told me all about Vriska and the weapon-- **

** CALLIOPE: pardon me, who told yoU? :U **

** ROSE: ...! **

** CALLIOPE: ... **

** CALLIOPE: part two: **

 

_In doing so, the Heir gained a powerful ability, one in which he was able to disregard the rules of reality and become, effectively, unstuck from the universe. Combined with his powers over the aspect of Breath, the Heir was able to lead and aid his divided allies. And with this new power, the Heir was able to be the final key necessary in the vanquishing of the Batterwitch and the Lord of Time._

 

_And like that, the Game was won._

 

_There were celebrations, reunions. But among it all, the Heir realized something about him had been changed. In becoming unstuck, he had a power that none of his companions knew the extent of. He experimented, learning he could break the walls between universes as easily as porcelain, could alter entire timelines. He could not only alter, but warp, create, and erase existence._

 

_This scared him._

 

_As he became aware of this fear, a new feeling begin to spread through him. The feeling that dragged cold and lead-like in his heart when he thought of himself against his companions. For against his companions,_

 

_against the Witch, who fended for herself years before the game, who could shape space to her will, who had suffered enslavement by the Batterwitch._

 

_against the Knight, who suffered the trials Time had handed him, who knew the impossible dread and despair of a doomed timeline_

 

_against the Seer, who had fought and railed against the cruel neutrality of the Trials and had become a slave to the Horrorterrors as reward_

 

_against the Trolls, who had all suffered an entire lifetime filled to the brim with war and bloodshed before even becoming a part of the Trials_

 

_against the Nobles, who had fought a dreadful future and a dead version of his own Trials for months_

 

_stood him._

 

 

 _His self-doubt, implanted in his heart at a young age, grew and grew until it ate him up. He, who had lived a life_ of _comfort and frivolity, who had only survived the Trials due to his companions' guiding hands, who had only the power over air, he was the one who was given this power?_

 

_He could not understand it._

 

_He could not grasp it._

 

 

_He could not stand for it._

 

 

_And so the Heir stole away from his companions. In his heart, he felt they were better off without his existence. No one would miss the unworthy Heir, he murmured to himself, taking to the sky, and fading into breath. All he had to do was use his undeserved power one last time, and he would no longer have to burden anyone with himself. And so he took off to Afterus, to the Keepers of Story._

 

_And there, the Heir went missing._

 

~ ※ ~

 

** Silence vibrates, hot and tense, between the two of you. **

 

** ROSE: ...You're saying.... **

** ROSE: You’re saying he did this to himself?  **

** ROSE: I had suspected he might have intentionally left us.....but to go this far... **

** CALLIOPE: ... **

** CALLIOPE: rose. **

** CALLIOPE: i feel i shoUld make it very clear: **

** CALLIOPE: the person yoU are trying to find has gone throUgh a lot of effort to remove himself from yoUr lives. **

** CALLIOPE: from yoUr life. **

** CALLIOPE: and for the record, it will be mUch easier for yoU if yoU were to stop right here and now. **

** CALLIOPE: are yoU sUre yoU want to try to reach him? **

** ROSE: **

 

** Through the fog, you see yourself. **

 

** You are 10, seeing words of a particular blue hue wink into existence in the late hours of night. **

 

** You are 12 (a few hours away from 13), holding needles of an even weight in your hand, feeling a wonderful warmth in your heart despite the tinge of cold metal. **

 

** You are 13, and he smiles at you, not caring that your skin is crawling with alien presence, that darkness oozes from your skin like blood or that your throat creaks and burbles wetly when you try to speak. **

 

** You are 16, and in the middle of reality falling apart, in the middle of the lowest low you have ever been in the trainwreck called Your Life, he appears and pulls you out. **

 

** ROSE: Damn straight I do. **

 

** Calliope smiles. **

 

~ ※ ~

 

** It's smaller than you thought it would be. **

 

** The object glows a white more pure and absolute than any white you've ever seen, making Calliope's robes look absolutely dingy by comparison. Just holding your hand near the box it sits in makes every hair on your body tingle with electricity. A hum comes from its core, pulsing at a frequency that makes the back of your skull tingle. **

 

** You can feel the eyes of the others drilling holes into your back. You know there's no turning back now. **

 

** (“And so, the Heir stuck his goddamn arm in it.”) **

 

** ROSE: And so the Seer followed, like a dunce. **

** CALLIOPE: sorry? **

** ROSE: Nothing. **

 

** And with a deep breath **

 

** you shove your arm in. **

****

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** "By guiding light, **

** by space and time, **

** I weave these words, **

** I spin my rhyme." **

 

** Once upon a time, the world came to an end. And so the chosen children carried its scattered seeds to a new realm: the Knight, the Witch, and the Seer. **

 

**...But wasn't there an Heir, too? **

 

** no. **

 

** A young man stood alone in his bedroom. It just so happened that day, the 13th of April, was that young man's birthday. Though it had been thirteen years ago he was given life, it was only that day he would be given a name. **

 

** What was the name of this young man? **

 

** nothing. there was no young man. **

 

** Your name is  **

 

** no. **

 

** Your name is J **

 

** nope! the end. **

 

** You have a passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES. You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT. You have a fondness for PARANORMAL LORE, and are an aspiring AMATEUR MAGICIAN. You also like to play GAMES sometimes.  **

 

** Games. We played a game. All of us, together. Your name is **

 

** why are you so stubborn??? **

 

** That should be my line. **

 

** no, it's not!! your line is somewhere that's not here, somewhere with jade, and dave, and kanaya and roxy and everyone else! goddammit, why won't you stop chasing me?! **

 

** Who is ‘me’? **

 

**... **

 

** ‘me’ **

 

** ‘me’ is someone better off forgetting. **

 

** ‘me’ is someone you don’t need in your life. **

 

** I know a few people who would be ready to disagree with that. Starting with myself. **

 

** how would you know that? you don’t remember me, you don’t even know my name! **

 

** Well, that would sort of be your fault. **

 

** i’m not complaining about it! i- **

 

** i did this for a reason rose! **

 

** And for what reason would that be? Did you do something wrong? **

 

** no, i  **

 

** i just! i’m not **

 

** i’m not necessary. **

 

**...Once again, I would have to disagree with you there- **

 

** HOW? **

 

** rose, name ONE important thing i did back then! **

 

** You were our friend. **

 

** rose, get real! **

 

** look, you’re a writer, you know you’re supposed to cut out unnecessary characters! **

 

** characters that don’t move the plot. **

 

** characters that are useless! **

 

** You weren’t useless- **

 

** i can count the things i did on a hand: **

 

** i hit some stuff with a hammer, i hit some bigger stuff with a hammer, i made a wind drill--and literally all those things were because either you or vriska told me to! **

 

** And you were our friend. **

 

** that has nothing to do with this- **

 

** IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS! **

 

** Listen to me. **

 

** I don’t remember your name, but I remember what you did. **

 

** You were the one who figured out the alchemization system. **

 

** You were the one who created us. **

 

** You were the one who gave me the Tumor. **

 

** You were the one who started the Scratch. **

 

** You were the one who fixed the glitching and kept us connected when we met up. **

 

** You were the one who brought Calliope back. **

 

** You were the one who did probably another dozen things I can’t remember, and you know what?  **

 

** I don’t give a damn about any of that, because first, and foremost, you were our friend. **

 

**...You were my friend. **

 

** And you were the thing binding us together! That’s why you were our leader! **

 

**...i’m not your leader. **

 

** I know. **

 

** You’re our friend, and that’s why you’re also our leader. **

 

** if anything, i was the one always being led. if you hadn’t been there holding my hand half the time i would have been dead before the day was out. **

 

** i was more like... a tool. **

 

** used by people smarter, and stronger and... **

 

** better than me. **

 

** I wouldn’t say Vriska was better than you. **

 

** i wasn’t talking about vriska. **

 

**... **

 

** just forget it, rose. let me disappear.  **

 

** i’m not worth remembering. **

 

** Yes you are.  **

 

** no i’m not! **

 

** Yes. **

 

** no. **

****

** Yes. **

 

** no--oh for fuck’s sakes, cut it out! **

 

** Did you not say that I was the writer here? **

 

**...what? **

 

** I think I have more experience in this field than you. **

 

** And you want to know something? I don’t think there’s such a thing as a useless character. **

 

** And believe me, I have met quite a lot of characters over the past few years.  **

 

** Ghosts, aliens, ghost aliens. **

 

** Sprites, exiles. **

 

** Witches and knights, sylphs and  **

 

** heirs. **

 

** And not a single one of them did not serve as some sort of gear in the haberdash mechanism that was the Game. **

 

** Everyone had their role, and that includes you. **

 

** Especially you. **

 

** To be quite frank, I really cannot understand where this notion that you were useless came from. Because if I have learned anything over the past few days, it was how integral you were to this whole thing. **

 

** In fact... **

 

** I have reason to suspect that at least part of your justification for omitting yourself from those stories was so you wouldn’t have second thoughts on this whole “i’m not important” whim. **

 

**... **

 

** But it doesn’t matter. **

 

** Whatever put this idea in your head, we can talk it out. **

 

** We can talk it out, and we can solve it, and we can go back to everyone else in the Veil. **

 

** One day we’ll all look back on this and laugh. **

 

** But before we do that you need to come back. **

 

** So... **

 

** Please, John. **

 

** Come back. **

  


 

 

 

** Come back to me. **

****

 

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** LAGO: Forgive me for taking so long, Lady Calliope! I had difficulty finding the **

** LAGO: **

** LAGO: Who’s this douchebag? **


	6. Chapter 6

** JOHN: well yeah, when you say it like THAT it sounds dumb. **

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** Half of John’s face glows with sunlight. In an interesting coincidence, the storm that had surrounded the area had almost instantly cleared when John stepped out the door, so you had decided to take your conversation outside. Calliope is enjoying the pleasant weather as well, though a ways away from the two of you. The mythtellers are crowded around her in a semicircle, almost entirely entranced by her words--save for the occasional glances shot in your direction. **

 

** More likely than not, they’re more interested in him than you. Aside from the fact that you pulled him out of a flat object the size of a book, John just plain looks more the part of a god than you do (even back in your usual wardrobe). Bright blue ensemble and windsock hood aside, he’s definitely the bigger presence here, all six feet of long limbs and broad shoulders, a somewhat surprising background to his glasses and slightly lopsided teeth. **

 

** If those hunched shoulders are anything to go by, he’s a) very aware of their glances and b) not liking them. Casually you move between him and the others. **

 

** ROSE: Personally, I don’t think there was that much embellishment to be done. **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: maybe. **

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: If this whole mess has proven anything, it’s that I don’t understand you at all, John. **

 

** He cracks half a smile at that. **

 

** JOHN: what? rose lalonde, superpsychologist extraordinaire, not able to stick her weird metaphoric fingers in someone’s headstuff? say it ain’t so. **

** ROSE: Despite my fondness for poking my bony little digits in everyone’s heads, I accept that I’m not necessarily the best at it. **

** ROSE: And if I can sink to that level of humility, I think you can too. **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: right. fine.  **

** JOHN: i’m sorry. this was all really dumb and silly of me. **

** JOHN: i just-! **

** JOHN: well. i guess she told you everything. **

** ROSE: She told me, but she didn’t make me understand. **

** ROSE: How the hell could you think so little of yourself that the only acceptable option for you would to be to erase yourself from the lives of your loved ones? **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: god, i don’t know, rose. **

** JOHN: it’s always felt like this. **

** JOHN: i mean, it wasn’t so heavy back then. before...everything. it just came out in little ways, like those posters. **

** JOHN: but during the ship ride, it just started coming out more and more.  **

** JOHN: and then, when we won and everything was so great, we all began talking about everything. you know, remembering and stuff. **

** JOHN: and i just...i realized how little i really did. and how most of what i did do was because there was someone smarter than me helping along the way. and i thought about how silly, and honestly dumb i was sometimes-- **

** ROSE: Yes, how dare a thirteen year-old commit the sin of being silly. **

** JOHN: --and how really competent everyone else was! like, dave had to do all that time shit, jade fucking lived alone on hellmurder island for ten years, and don’t even get me started on roxy or dirk, or jake or the trolls or **

** JOHN: or you. **

** JOHN: i mean, you went through SO MUCH shit! i can’t even imagine what it was like, being all possessed and tentacle-y **

** JOHN: and having to see your mom like that. **

** JOHN: and having to put up with an idiot babbling his head off during all that. **

** ROSE: ...John. **

** JOHN: and then the whole thing with the green sun, having to go through all that! **

** JOHN: honestly, the thought of me being on par with you guys... **

** JOHN: it felt a little like i was insulting you or something. **

** ROSE: **

** ROSE: John, I think you should know that everyone handles things differently. We are no exception. **

** ROSE: All of us reacted to the stress of the game in different ways. Some with humor. Some with dedication. Some in more **

** ROSE: destructive ways. **

** ROSE: I’m not exactly a paragon of virtue on that front. **

** ROSE: But more to the point, just because you had a slightly different role than others doesn’t mean you were any less important. And like I said, I truly believe your role in uniting us was one of the most vital roles in our path towards victory. **

** ROSE: And I think it’s worth noting that your omitting yourself from our memories was about as subtle as a slap to the face. **

** ROSE: John, you can not fathom how important you are to us. **

** ROSE: Even aside from the game. **

** ROSE: Before it all happened, we were all just a bunch of awkward teenagers with all our own hangups. Hell, we still are. But you’re always the one who knows exactly how to confront them. **

** ROSE: You inspired Dave to seek his own identity. **

** ROSE: You inspired Jade to persevere against trouble, even when things were uncertain. **

** ROSE: You inspired me to try and let my guard down more. **

** ROSE: And... **

** ROSE: And so much more, honestly. If you had any idea of how much you helped me... **

 

** There’s a sudden dryness in your throat. John is looking at you with an unfamiliar expression. **

 

** ROSE: At my lowest points, you offered me your hand. Even if I hissed at you like some interdimensional snake, even if I tottered towards you on the bad end of a hangover, you were always there for me. You accepted me, for the good parts of me, and the bad. **

** ROSE: John... **

** ROSE: No offense, but if you ever try to claim that you are not important ever again, I may have to smack the stupid out of you. **

** ROSE: Because as much as you fear that being our companion was “an insult” to us, the only way you have ever insulted me, truly insulted me, was to think you aren’t important. **

** ROSE: Because I can’t think of anyone more important than the boy standing in front of me now. **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: **

** JOHN: shit, rose. **

** JOHN: what do you even say to that? **

** ROSE: ...You could say that you’ll never try anything like this again. **

** ROSE:  You could say that you’ll try to care about yourself as much I do. **

 

** You take one of his hands in between yours. Slowly, but deliberately, you lift it to your mouth. The sound that passes between your lips and his skin is almost inaudible. **

 

** ROSE: And you could say that you’ll come back with us. **

 

** You politely pretend to mistake the reddening of his face for the last remains of sunset. **

 

** JOHN: ...geeeeeeeez. **

** JOHN: if i HAVE to. **

** ROSE: I know, I’m just so demanding. **

** JOHN: i know!!!!!!!! **

** JOHN: good thing you’re so cute. :P **

** ROSE: ... :) **

** JOHN: :) **

 

** His hand is warm in yours, palm slightly too wide for your fingers to close around. You think you could get used to the feeling. **

 

** ROSE: Come on, John. **

** ROSE: Let’s go home. **

 

~ ※ ~

 

_by breath, by light_

_by space, by time._

_i spin my words,_

_i weave my rhyme._

_and so the heir_

_did see the light._

_he took his wrongs_

_and made them right_

_the toxic voice_

_which filled his head_

_was snUffed right out_

_and better dead_

_for then he knew_

_that in the end_

_that when Unsure_

_he had a friend_

_and all aroUnd him_

_helping hands_

_were always there_

_with no demands_

_and then he knew_

_deep in his heart_

_what he had seeked_

_he had from start_

_his pUrpose found,_

_he and the seer_

_did join their hands_

_and leave Us here_

_so what will come_

_to be of them?_

_i gUess, for now_

 

****   


** CALLIOPE: it’s Unwritten. UωU **

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** ROSE: ...Speaking of writing, **

 

 

** ROSE: Calliope. **

** ROSE: I’m just DYING to hear where your followers got the inspiration for some of these stories. **

**ROSE: I just heard the most interesting one not too long ago.**

** ROSE: What was it... “The Creation?” **

** ROSE: Maybe you’ve heard of it. **

 

** CALLIOPE: **

****

****   


 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm really proud of this fic and ii hope you all will enjoy it!
> 
> Writing: [Digital_Eon](digital_eon.tumblr.com), [Madamescones](madamescones.tumblr.com), [Threeley](threeley.tumblr.com), [Suspenderproblems](suspenderproblems.tumblr.com), [Lightrises](lightrises.tumblr.com), [Saccharinescorpion](Saccharinescorpion.tumblr.com)
> 
> Art: [Madamescones](madamescones.tumblr.com), [Suspenderproblems](suspenderproblems.tumblr.com), [Lightrises](lightrises.tumblr.com), [Saccharinescorpion](Saccharinescorpion.tumblr.com), [Wunderschiesse](wunderschiesse.tumblr.com), [MustachioedOctopus](mustachioedoctopus.tumblr.com)


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